Otis On A Shakedown Cruise

Lyrics:Grateful DeadMusic:Grateful Dead

Dennis McNally mentions the Dead singing a song titled "Otis On A Shakedown
Cruise" in his book " A Long Strange Trip":

On returning to the Bay Area [in early 1966] they had a couple of gigs
at the Matrix ... In addition to Chuck Berry, the jug material, Pig's blues
tunes, and the originals, they'd added a couple of covers ... and three more
originals: "You Can't Catch Me", "The Monster" and "Otis On A Shakedown Cruise."
(p120)

Rock Scully also includes references to this song in his book "Living With The
Dead":

"They'd written a song a year earlier, "Otis On A Shakedown Cruise", a 2 1/2
minute rock 'n' roller that was the B side of the first independently released
single (as the Warlocks)." (p44)

"We do quite a few demos in '66 (the above [ie "Don't Ease Me In" and
"Stealin'"] plus "Otis On A Shakedown Cruise", an original country rocker,
and the old country traditional "Silver Threads And Golden Needles")." (p60)

"There [Coast Recording, on Bush Street] we do a bunch of demos
including "Early Morning Rain" (with Phil singing lead), "Silver Threads And
Golden Needles," and a take of "Otis On A Shakedown Cruise."" (p61)

There's also a Rock Scully quote from an interview with Blair Jackson,
referring to their time in LA in 1966:

"They had a couple of originals, like Otis on a Shakedown Cruise, which was
this wonderful song that I think Pig and Jerry mainly put together. There must
be tapes of it around somewhere. We were going to put it on as the B-side of
Don't Ease Me In."

Finally, there's an (unsourced) quote from Garcia:

"I think we started it in San Francisco, but we worked it up in L.A. It was
kind of an R&B thing that had changes that worked a little bit like Get Off
My Cloud or Louie Louie, maybe a little more complicated. It was a straight-
ahead 4/4; it wasn't a shuffle, which was unusual for us in those days,
'cause we played mostly shuffles. It was a pretty good tune, but we threw it
out at some point - maybe when Mickey joined the band - because we went on to
other stuff."

It now appears that "Otis On A Shakedown Cruise" was the title of the
song more commonly known as
You Don't Have To Ask. This was recorded along with
"Stealin'" and "Don't Ease Me In" during the Scorpio Sessions in 1966.
And in the performance on 19 May 1966 it sounds as if Bob (?) says "Otis"
immediately after they finish "Good Lovin'." Another band member (Phil?) says
"Otis?" and they almost immediately go into "You Don't Have To Ask."
(Thanks to John Sarjeant for spotting this)

This has been confirmed in the book published with the box set "30 Trips Around The Sun", which says "You Don't Have To Ask" was
"also known as 'Otis On A Shakedown Cruise'. Intended for B-side of band's debut single".